VAN NUYS - A suspect in the shooting deaths of four people outside a Northridge boarding home was ordered Wednesday to remain behind bars without bail for allegedly violating his probation in a drug case and the terms of his release from an earlier prison term.

Ka Pasasouk, 31, has not been charged in connection with the Northridge killings.

During a hearing in Van Nuys on a drug-possession case, Pasasouk was ordered to return to court Feb. 6, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if he violated his probation. Superior Court Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers ordered that he remain jailed without bail.

Pasasouk was in a courtroom lock-up area during the brief hearing.

He did not appear at an earlier hearing at the downtown Los Angeles Central Arraignment Court, when Superior Court Commissioner Cynthia A. Zuzga also ordered him to be jailed without bail, pending a Jan. 30 arraignment for allegedly violating the terms of his community supervision following his release from prison in January.

Wednesday's hearings were the first for Pasasouk in Los Angeles since his Dec. 3 arrest along with three other people in Las Vegas in connection with the Dec. 2 slayings of Amanda Ghossein, 24, of Monterey Park; Jennifer Kim, 26, of Montebello; Robert Calabia, 34, of Los Angeles; and Teofilo Navales, 49, of Castaic.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said earlier this month that the killings stemmed from a dispute and were not random.

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Outside court in Van Nuys, Ghossen's aunt - who gave her name only as Illina - said she got a glimpse of Pasasouk during the hearing.

"We're just really sad and sick to our stomach," she said.

"We're going to be here for Amanda," the aunt said. "... We love her and we miss her and we're going to get justice."

Ghossen's mother, who gave her name only as Glyna, said her daughter was celebrating her birthday and would have turned 25 two days later.

Questions have been raised since Pasasouk's arrest about why he was not in custody at the time of the killings. Despite requests by probation officers in September that he be jailed, Pasasouk was permitted to enter a drug-diversion program in the methamphetamine-possession case.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office conducted an internal review into the handling of the case and conceded that a mistake was made.

"The review shows that the office inadvertently erred in indicating the defendant was eligible for a Proposition 36 drug program,' Sandi Gibbons of the District Attorney's Office said in a written statement released last week.

"Training issues raised during the review will be addressed by the District Attorney's Office countywide.

Pasasouk - who was described as having multiple convictions dating back to 2004 - had been released from prison in January.

The three other people arrested along with Pasasouk at the Silverton hotel and casino near the Las Vegas Strip were identified as Howard Alcantara, 30, of Glendale; Donna Rabulan, 30, of Los Angeles, and Christina Neal, 31, of Los Angeles. Police said then that they were booked on suspicion of aiding a felon.

Alcantara pleaded not guilty Wednesday in San Fernando Superior Court in connection with a case charging him with a robbery in November and assault with a deadly weapon in September, along with possession of a firearm by a felon. He was jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail while awaiting his next court appearance Dec. 27.

Rabulan remains in custody in Clark County, Nev., and Neal is no longer in custody, according to Gibbons.